New review shows there are two sides to every story

February 13, 2013

Both the Freeh report and the Thornburgh report, part of a review commissioned by the Paterno family, had their own agendas. The Freeh report sought to document wrongdoing, while the Thornburgh report sought to deflect wrongdoing away from Mr. Paterno. The truth behind what Mr. Paterno knew and when he knew it died with him. But the Thornburgh report reminds us that there are two sides to every story.

I do not believe that Joe Paterno was a bad man; neither do I believe he was a saint. Clearly very protective of his football program, Coach Paterno's insistence that his players not be subject to the normal student disciplinary system disappointed me. His stubbornness ultimately led to the departure of the Penn State dean responsible for disciplinary matters.

The sanctimonious NCAA, however, is another matter. Those supposed defenders of the institutional cultures at the numerous squeaky clean major college football programs (ha ha!) had a lot of nerve imposing blockbuster sanctions on Penn State.

Whereas the football program was only peripherally involved, the priorities of some senior Penn State administrators — and perhaps Paterno — were misplaced. The NCAA had no business crippling an entire university to redress the actions of a few misguided souls. Instead, the NCAA should have helped Penn State make sure that the law comes down on them like a ton of bricks.